On January 27, the Kyudoverein Neandertal held its traditional New Year’s archery event. About twenty kyudoka, including guests from Frankfurt and Bottrop, gathered in the gymnasium of the Gymnasium am Neandertal in Alt-Erkrath to welcome the Year of the Snake.

Shigeyasu Kameo opened the event with the Yawatashi, after which the archers present each shot two arrows. With that, the ceremonial portion was complete, and after the official part, the Mato Asobi session was very cheerful and relaxed. The club members had shown a great deal of creativity in designing the targets for the archery games, and a wide variety of snakes—from baby snakes to full-grown boa constrictors—were represented. Despite the relaxed atmosphere, there were some beautiful shots to admire. The high level of competition was evident in the fact that both the silver and gold targets were hit.

In the end, Kieko Petermann-Shibata scored the most points thanks to a consistent performance throughout the competition. For her achievement, she received a Canadian silver dollar featuring a snake motif from club president Reinhard Kollotzek.

Automatically translated by DeepL